Monday, 27 July 2009

It Must be the Weed, It Must be the E

The news of Yasmin Ahmad's demise really surprised me, but nor did it shock me greatly, given the critical situation she had been through after the stroke attack she'd had. She's such a person of great talent and sheer intelligence, a true Malaysian, whose works have transcended the seemingly opaque veil of racial and religious divide in the country. She'd directed numerous television advertisements, most of them were dedicated for certain cultural festivals in the country, and her Petronas 'Hari Raya', 'Deepavali', and 'Chinese New Year' advertisements will always be missed in the years to come.

One of my favorites among her repertoire of great works is the ad produced for the Independence Day last year, if I'm not mistaken. It's called Tan Hon Ming, and it projected the undisputed innocence of children with the multicultural Malaysia as its background.

Kids know nothing of skin colors; racism is nothing in their lives' dictionary, or perspective. The downward spiral this country is experiencing, with respect to its inter-faith and inter-racial relations amidst its past image as a 'harmonious' melting pot of people of different faiths and creed is undeniably due to the roles of the people who pride themselves as adults or 'mature' people who've all these whiles brought our children up to be the ones with corrupted heart, racist mind, and myopic eyes. Many parents nowadays seem to be trapped into their own utopia cage; kids of different backgrounds should mingle separately, and polarisation should be the way to go. They simply believe in the notion that Malaysia can survive with only their single race being its single dweller. Children are sent to vernacular schools, where they'll only mingle with other kids who speak their language and do everything their way. Malay parents who don't allow their kids to play at their Chinese friends' place/home for the baseless fear that their kids will be fed with non-halal food; even plain water, or 'Ribena', served in these 'non-Muslim' homes are funnily considered as non-halal by these parents. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but I thought such things are just not Islamic. Even in our so-called national schools, polarisation still exists with staggering intensity. Just go to any of our school's canteen, and you'll see that happening in front of your very eyes.

To make me hate typical Malaysian media more (not all of them, though), a cheap tabloid, Kosmo didn't take any chances in cashing in from Yasmin Ahmad's death. An article of defamation towards her was released short after her death, and the article was shamelessly written as to portray it as a 'sincere' obituary, which it just wasn't. Yucks. The writer must've disregarded the feeling of the demise's family. Speaking on some Malay tabloids, just flip through any of them and you'll find articles on sex, pigs, traditional mysticism, black magic and witchcraft, and some disgusting scandals of some unknown local so-called celebrities. Disgusting at its best.